Kingfisher has seen its shares increase by around 7% in early trading, after the firm published its half year results, making it the top FTSE 100 gainer.

The retail firm, which owns brands including B&Q and Screwfix, saw its operating profit increase by 2% in the six months to 31 July, jumping to £374m, while its pre-tax profit increasing by 2.3% to £324m in the same period.

However, in this time, Kingfisher’s total sales fell by 1.4% to £6.75bn, while its like-for-like (LFL) sales dropped by 2.4%. LFL sales in Q2 alone fell by 3.8%.

Across its categories, the firm said its core sales, which make up almost two thirds of all sales, showed "continued resilience", with LFL dropping by 1.1%, driven by repair, maintenance and renovation activity on existing homes.

However, big ticket sales, which account for 14% of sales, fell by 6.8%, which the firm said was expected against a backdrop of trends across the broader market. This came alongside a drop of 3.1% in seasonal sales, which Kingfisher said was a result of "unfavourable weather conditions across much of April to June".

Chief executive officer at Kingfisher, Thierry Garnier, said: "Trading overall in the first half was in line with our expectations. This was underpinned by customers continuing to repair, maintain and renovate their existing homes, driving resilient volume trends in our core product categories. As expected, demand for 'big-ticket' categories has remained weak, in line with the broader market, while seasonal category sales trends have improved since early July.

"Our UK & Ireland banners continued to gain market share, supported by strong e-commerce sales and our progress in addressing trade customer needs. Screwfix delivered positive LFL sales and TradePoint achieved strong LFL sales growth of 7.1%, now representing 22% of B&Q's sales. Sales in France were broadly in line with the market, reflecting the soft consumer backdrop."

Despite drops in sales, which the firm said was in line with expectations, the firm has tightened expectations range for the 2024/25 financial year, from between £490m-550m to between £510m-550m.

Kingfisher has also increased its free cash flow expectations for the full financial year from between £350m-410m to between £410m-450m.

Furthermore, the firm has completed £150m in its £300m share buyback scheme, which is now expected to complete in March 2025.

Head of money and markets at Hargreaves Lansdown, Susannah Streeter, added: "The improved picture ahead has led to a spurt of enthusiasm for the company, with Kingfisher shares getting off to a flying start in early trade.

"Nevertheless, it’s still going to clearly take time before the company is firing on all cylinders. Bigger ticket items are still likely to continue to be harder to shift. Some consumers appear to have been ring-fencing spending for holidays and experiences rather than major makeovers, although the value DIY offering will offer resilience for those customers keen to do it themselves to keep costs low.

"That’s helped the chain shift higher volumes of its core products as homeowners repair and maintain and spruce up their properties. However, clouds still hover over its French Castorama operations, where the economic conditions have been far from clement."

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